Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One

BOENZ

BOENZ

The idea behind this exercise is that—thanks to graphic styles, the

Appearance panel, and dynamic effects—you can use a single base

fi le to create a series of continuous, fl uid variations. If you have any

doubt, compare Figures 10-5 (page 334), 10-15 (339), 10-25 (346),

and 10-28. What starts as a birthday napkin for Babs becomes a

kid’s Halloween decoration. And because all effects are scalable,

you can make the net result any size you like. Only in Illustrator.

Exploiting the Transform Effect

As I mentioned at the outset, Effect→Distort & Transform→Transform

is my favorite dynamic effect. This one command lets you move,

fl ip, scale, rotate, and clone the appearance of one or more selected

objects, all from a central dialog box. The net result is that you can

create patterns of paths or text blocks at a moment’s notice, and

then manipulate the whole pattern in one fell swoop by making

adjustments to the original object.

In this exercise, I’ll demonstrate how to create a simple rotation

pattern, create a beveled stroke effect, and nudge an object using

the Transform Effect. You’ll also get a chance to try your hand at

one of my favorite path wigglers, Pucker & Bloat.

1.

Open a simple line drawing. Open the fi le called

Boenz.ai found inside the Lesson 10 folder. The fi le

contains three objects: a background square (which

will remain unchanged), a compound shape (the cartoon bone)

that comprises fi ve subpaths, and an oddly spelled line of

point type. Pictured in Figure 10-29, the document can safely

be termed unremarkable. But with the help of Transform and

Pucker & Bloat, it’ll develop into a high-impact graphic design.

2.

Apply a thick stroke to the bones. Click the outline of any

of the four circles or rectangle associated with the vertical

bone shape to select it. Open the Stroke panel and change the

Weight value from 20 to 200 points. The result is a chunky

outline that nearly obscures the bone-colored fi ll.

3. Send the stroke to the back. By default, Illustrator positions

a stroke in front of its fi ll, in deference to the behavior of the

PostScript printing language (which does the same). But you

don’t have to leave it that way. To restore the fi ll—so no por-

tion of it is covered—bring up the Appearance panel. And

drag the Stroke item below Fill (just above the bottom Opac-

ity item). Figure 10-30 shows the result.

Figure 10-29 .

Figure 10-30 .

349

Exploiting the Transform Effect

4.

Rotate three duplicates of the bones. Choose Effect→Distort &

Transform→Transform or, if you loaded dekeKeys back in the

Preface, press Ctrl+E (-E on the Mac). In the Transform Effect

dialog box, turn on the Preview check box so you can see the

results of your efforts. Change the Angle value at the bottom of

the dialog box to 45 degrees and press the Tab key to highlight

the Copies value and invoke the preview. Illustrator rotates the

preview of the bone, but its path outlines remain unchanged.

With the Copies fi eld active, press the  key to nudge the value

up one copy at a time. With Copies set to 1, Illustrator restores

a bone at the original position. Once you get to 3, Illustrator

completes the pattern, as in Figure 10-31. That’s one original

plus three copes, for a total of four bones. Then click OK.

5. Add the virtual paths together. Unfortunately, in rotating the

paths, we’ve also managed to rotate the strokes so that they

cover each other. To merge the strokes, we need to merge the

base bone shape with its virtual copies. To do this, choose

Effect→Pathfi nder→Add.

6.

Move the Transform effect above Add. Well, that didn’t do

anything. But that’s because the effects are applied in the wrong

order. Go to the Appearance panel, and notice that Transform

Figure 10-31 .

350

Lesson 10: The Amazing World of Dynamic Effects